Embracing the Melodrama Part II #13: Rebecca (dir by Alfred Hitchcock)

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, here we are, less than a week into Embracing the Melodrama, Part II, and I’m already running behind! The plan, as I mentioned back on Monday, is to review 128 melodramatic films over the next three weeks. And, even though I know that sounds a like a lot, I had it all planned out so that I’d be able to get all that done in just 21 days. All I had to do was make sure that I reviewed 6 films a day.

And …

Well, life happened.

But no matter! It may now take me 3 and a half weeks to review 128 films but that’s no great tragedy. And besides, regardless of how long it takes, I’ve got some pretty good films scheduled.

Take, for instance, the 1940 best picture winner Rebecca.

Rebecca is a film that all women can relate to. The heroine is played by Joan Fontaine. I say “heroine” because we never actually learn the character’s name, nor do we learn much about her background. When we first see her, she’s defined by her job, which is to basically be a paid companion to a wealthy woman. Later, she’s defined by her whirlwind romance with the brooding and aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier). When, after two weeks, they get married, she becomes known as the second Mrs. de Winter. She becomes defined by both who she married and who she is not.

She’s not Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter.

As soon as Maxim takes his new wife to his estate, the second Mrs. de Winter discovers that she’ll always live in the shadow of the deceased Rebecca. Everyone she meets describes Rebecca as being a vibrant, lively figure — in other words, the complete opposite of the meek second Mrs. de Winter. The coldly imperious housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), has perfectly preserved Rebecca’s room and makes little attempt to hide the scorn that she feels for the second Mrs. de Winter. Even worse, once they return to the estate, Maxim reveals himself to be moody and tempermental. With the help of the manipulative Mrs. Danvers, the second Mrs. de Winter becomes convinced that Maxim will never love her as much as he loved Rebecca.

Making things even more complicated, a man claiming to be Rebecca’s cousin comes by the house when Maxim is away. Jack Flavell (played by George Sanders, at his most serpent-like) suggests that there may have been more to Rebecca’s death than the second Mrs. de Winter was originally told…

Rebecca is a classic film, for many reasons. It’s well-acted, with Fontaine, Olivier, Anderson, and Sanders all bringing their characters to vibrant life. It’s a gothic romance. It’s a thriller. It’s a mystery. It is the epitome of old Hollywood style. But, for me, the main reason that Rebecca is a classic is because it tells a story to which almost everyone can relate. Every relationship that I’ve ever had, I’ve always been curious and occasionally even jealous of who came before me. There’s nothing more intimidating than living in the shadow of someone who you will never get a chance to meet personally. The second Mrs. de Winter’s insecurities are everyone’s insecurities and, in some fashion or another, we’ve all had a Mrs. Danvers in our life. The second Mrs. de Winter’s struggles are our struggles and, as she grows stronger, the viewer grows stronger with her.

Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most influential and acclaimed filmmakers of all time but he never won a directing Oscar. Rebecca was the only one of his films to win Best Picture. Producer David O. Selznick brought Hitchcock over from England to direct Rebecca and it’s been reported that Hitchcock resented Selznick’s interference. (And, while Rebecca is undoubtedly a good film that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it’s not exactly a Hitchcock film in the way that Shadow of a Doubt, Rear Window, or Vertigo are Hitchcock films.) As a result, Hitchcock subsequently made it a point to edit future pictures in camera so that the studios would not be able to re-edit his films.

But, whether you consider it to be a Hitchcock picture or a Selznick production, Rebecca remains a wonderfully watchable melodrama.

Song of the Day: See You Again (by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth)

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Arleigh

While still looking to finish up my review of the latest entry in The Fast & The Furious franchise I thought it best to just put up the song which has led to many a-filmgoer trapped in a box of their emotions and feels.

Everyone by now knows how the release of Furious 7 has a tinge of both sentimentality and bittersweet emotions as this was the final film filmed by Paul Walker before his untimely death in late 2013. The shadow of Walker’s death had cast a shadow over the film. Whether people thought the film was good or not became a sidenote as the filmmakers, actors and everyone involved gave Paul Walker a moving final tribute by film’s end.

“See You Again” brings back Wiz Khalifa who also contributed what would become the theme song for Fast and Furious 6 with “Ride or Die.” This time Wiz has Charlie Puth doing the chorus. The combination of Puth’s heartfelt vocals and Khalifa’s rhymes made for a moving musical tribute to one of the founders of the The Fast & The Furious franchise and to a close friend to all involved in it.

See You Again

Charlie Puth)

It’s been a long day without you my friend
And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again
We’ve come a long way from where we began
Oh I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again

(Wiz Khalifa)

Damn who knew all the planes we flew
Good things we’ve been through
That I’ll be standing right here
Talking to you about another path I
Know we loved to hit the road and laugh
But something told me that it wouldn’t last
Had to switch up look at things different see the bigger picture
Those were the days hard work forever pays now I see you in a better place

How could we not talk about family when family’s all that we got?
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
And now you gonna be with me for the last ride

(Charlie Puth)

It’s been a long day without you my friend
And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again
We’ve come a long way from where we began
Oh I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again
when I see you again

(Wiz Khalifa)

First you both go out your way
And the vibe is feeling strong and what’s
Small turn to a friendship a friendship
Turn into a bond and that bond will never
Be broke and the love will never get lost
And when brotherhood come first then the line
Will never be crossed established it on our own
When that line had to be drawn and that line is what
We reach so remember me when I’m gone

How could we not talk about family when family’s all that we got?
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
And now you gonna be with me for the last ride

(Charlie Puth)

So let the light guide your way hold every memory
As you go and every road you take will always lead you home

It’s been a long day without you my friend
And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again
We’ve come a long way from where we began
Oh I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again

Otis, Roscoe, and Roy Sullivan

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Jedadiah Leland

We lost three talented character actors this week.

Tom Towles (March 20, 1950–April 5, 2015) may have never been a household name but he was well-known to horror fans. In Rob Zombie’s House of a 1,000 Corpses, he played George Wydell, the gruff deputy who was executed by Karen Black’s Mama Firefly. In Tom Savini’s underrated remake of Night of the Living Dead, he took over the role of Harry Cooper and was executed by Patricia Tallman’s Barbara.

However, he was best known for playing the loathsome Otis in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Taken under the wing of serial killer Henry (Michael Rooker), Otis is such an enthusiastic and depraved student that even Henry grows disgusted with him. Based on real-life murderer Ottis Toole, Otis is one of the most disgusting and plausible of movie psychos. Playing a stupid character, Towles gave a very intelligent performance.

Before being cast as Otis, Towles served in the Marines and was active in Chicago theater. He died in Florida, of a massive stroke.

James Best (July 26th, 1926–April 6th, 2015) played many different roles but he will always be best known as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane of Hazzard County. Born in Kentucky, Best proudly served in World War II and started acting in 1950. For the first part of his career, he played cowboys, soldiers, outlaws, and sidekicks. In The Twilight Zone episode “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank,” he played a country boy who came back to life in the middle of his funeral. On The Andy Griffith Show, he played guitar player Jim Lindsey. He showed his versatility in films like Sam Fuller’s Shock Corridor and Max Baer’s Ode To Billy Joe.

Most people know him for his role on The Dukes of Hazzard. For 6 years, Best played Roscoe P. Coltrane and his performance has lived on and been rediscovered in endless syndicated reruns. Roscoe was forever in “hot pursuit,” chasing the Duke boys with his basset hound, Flash, sitting in the car beside him. Roscoe never came close to catching the Dukes but he never stopped trying. There was nothing subtle about Best’s performance but it was perfect for The Dukes of Hazzard.

James Best was also a painter and a respected acting coach, as well as an early mentor to Quentin Tarantino. He passed away at the age of 88 from pneumonia.

Geoffrey Lewis (July 31st, 1935–April 7th, 2015) began his career in 1970 and, at the time of his passing, he had over 200 credited roles to his name. With a face that could either be friendly or threatening depending on how it was lit, Lewis played truck drivers and senators, criminals and lawyers, good old boys and corporate businessmen. Lewis was the epitome of a character actor, never quite a star but making even the smallest of roles memorable.

He was a favorite of Clint Eastwood’s and appeared in seven films with him. In Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can, he played Orville and stole scenes from not only Clint Eastwood and Ruth Gordon but from Clyde the Orangutan as well. More recently, he brought tragic dignity to the role of Roy Sullivan in Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects.

Rest in peace, good gentlemen.

Embracing the Melodrama Part II #12: Jezebel (dir by William Wyler)

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

We started out this day by taking a look at Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage so it seems only appropriate that today’s final entry in Embracing the Melodrama should be another film in which Bette Davis plays a potentially unlikable character who is redeemed by being the most interesting person in the film.

The 1938 best picture nominee Jezebel stars Bette Davis as Julie Marsden, a strong-willed Southern belle who lives in pre-Civil War New Orleans. Julie is looking forward to an upcoming ball but is frustrated when her fiancée, boring old Pres (Henry Fonda), says that he has to work and declines to go shopping for a dress with her. Impulsively, Julie does exactly what I would do. She buys the most flamboyant red dress that she can find.

Back in the old South, unmarried women were expected to wear white to formal balls, the better to let everyone know that they were pure and innocent and waiting for the right man. When Julie shows up in her red gown, it’s a scandal and, upon seeing the looks of shock and disdain on everyone’s faces, Julie wants to leave the ball. However, Pres insists that Julie dance with him and he continues to dance with her, even after the orchestra attempts to stop playing music.

And then he leaves her. At first, Julie insists to all who will listen that Pres is going to return to her but it soon becomes obvious that Pres has abandoned both Julie and Southern society. Julie locks herself away in her house and becomes a recluse.

Until, a year later, Pres returns. At first, Julie is overjoyed to see that Pres is back and she’s prepared to finally humble herself if that means winning back his love. But then she discovers that the only reason that he’s returned to New Orleans is to warn people about the dangers of Yellow Fever.

Oh, and he’s also married.

To a yankee.

For the most part, Jezebel is a showcase for another fierce and determined Bette Davis performance. It’s easy to be judgmental of a character like Julie Marsden but honestly, who doesn’t wish that they could be just as outspoken and determined? It helps, of course, that the film surrounds Julie with a collection of boring and self-righteous characters, the type of people who you love to see scandalized. Henry Fonda gives one of his more boring performances in the role of Pres while Margaret Lindsay, in the role of Pres’s Northern wife, is so saintly that she reminds you of the extremely religious girl in high school who would get offended whenever you came to school wearing a short skirt. In a society as rigid, moralistic, and judgmental as the one portrayed in Jezebel, it’s impossible not to cheer for someone like Julie Marsden.

Add to that, I totally would have worn that red dress too! In a world that insisted that all women had to act a certain way or look a certain way and think a certain way, Julie went her own way and, regardless of what boring old Pres may have thought, there’s a lesson there for us all.

When watching Jezebel, it helps to know a little about film history. Bette Davis very much wanted to play Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind and was reportedly very disappointed when the role went to Vivien Leigh. Depending on the source, Jezebel is often described as either being Davis’s audition for the role of Scarlett or as being a consolation gift for losing out on the role. Either way, Jezebel is as close as we will ever get to seeing Bette Davis play Scarlett. Judging from the film, Davis would not have been an ideal Scarlett. (Whereas Gone With The Wind works because Leigh’s Scarlett grows stronger over the course of the film, Davis would have started the film as strong and had nowhere left to go with the character.) However, Davis was a perfect Julie Marsden.

Embracing the Melodrama Part II #11: Child Bride (dir by Harry Revier)

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Child marriage must go!”

— Miss Carol (Diana Durrell) in Child Bride (1938)

Oh my God!

Listen, I have never made a secret about the fact that I love low-budget exploitation films but watching the 1938 film Child Bride was seriously one of the ickiest experiences of my life. This is one of those films that, after you watch it, you have to take a long shower to try to wash it off of you. This is the type of film that will inspire you to lock your door and sit in a corner with a long kitchen knife for protection. The film’s poster describes it as being a “throbbing drama of shackled youth” but I would be scared of anyone who came out of Child Bride throbbing.

Child Bride claims to take place in Ozarks but, from the minute you see all of the Eucalyptus trees and hear all the bad accents, you know that this film is about as Californian as a film can be. Miss Carol (Diana Durrell) grew up in the backwoods and now she’s returned so she can serve as the teacher in a tiny, one-room schoolhouse. Upon her arrival, Miss Carol is viewed by suspicion by the townspeople. They distrust her refined ways and, even worse, she keeps saying how she’s going to get the state to pass a law banning underage marriage. There won’t be any more child brides!

So, of course, the townspeople decide to tar and feather her. Fortunately, Miss Carol is saved by moonshiner Ira (George Humphreys) and his partner in crime, Angelo the Dwarf (Angelo Rossitto). However, one of the townspeople — the demonic Jake Bolby (Warner Richmond) — has decided that he wants to marry Ira’s 12 year-old daughter, Jennie (Shirley Mills) and he’s not above committing murder to get what he wants.

What makes the film so icky is that Jennie was played by an actual 12 year-old and there’s a length scene where Jennie goes skinny dipping while Jake watches from the bushes. As you watch, you find yourself wondering whether Child Bride was actually made to appeal to the Jake Bolbys of the world.

(It doesn’t help that Richmond, one of the few professional actors to appear in this film, gives a totally convincing performance. Kevin Bacon in The Woodsman has got nothing on Warner Richmond…)

That said, as icky as it is, Child Bride is still definitely watchable. It’s hard not to laugh at the film’s extreme version of the Ozarks. I’ve never seen so many shacks, overalls, and toothless grins in my life. Since I have family that lives in that part of the country, it was hard for me not to be amused by the film’s version of country living. (If you want to know about life in the so-called “backwoods,” see Winter’s Bone.)

Ultimately, Child Bride is so weird that it’s understandable if you want to see it once but just make sure to take a shower afterward.

Embracing the Melodrama Part II #10: Sex Madness (dir by Dwain Esper)

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1938 film Sex Madness starts out with a title crawl that informs us “Humanity must be enlightened! Ignorance must be abolished! They must be told!” So, in other words, Sex Madness is yet another exploitation film that’s been disguised as an educational film.

Sex Madness tells the story of a group of people who have been driven mad by the sexually themed dancing at the local burlesque house. Two secretaries sit in the audience and one starts to grope the other. A man leaves the theater and promptly murder a young woman as she walks home with her groceries. A group of tuxedo-clad frat boys go to a party with the dancers and they all end up coming down with syphilis as a result.

Finally, dancer Millicent (Vivian McGill) discovers that, as a result of a trip to the casting couch, she has contracted syphilis herself. Her doctor explains that, if she gets the proper treatment, she can be cured. However, it will require that she be patient and that she resist the temptation to go to any charlatan doctors.

So, of course, Millicent returns home from the big city and promptly gives into temptation and tries to buy a miracle cure from a charlatan doctor…

I’m probably making Sex Madness sound a lot more entertaining than it actually is. The film was directed by Dwain Esper, who directed several similar films in the 30s. Sex Madness is never quite as demented as Maniac, Esper’s best known film, but it’s still a bit more histrionic than Damaged Lives. You can tell that this is an Esper film because it follows his usual “the worst than can happen will happen” aesthetic. In the world of Esper’s films, going to a burlesque show leads not only to syphilis. It leads to murder as well.

(What makes the murder particularly jarring is the fact that it’s so casually introduced and then, just as casually, forgotten.)

The other way that you can tell that this is an Esper film is because it appears to have been edited with a chainsaw. Scenes pop up almost randomly and the film’s use of stock footage makes Gambling With Souls appear to be subtle and carefully constructed.

In the end, Sex Madness is mostly distinguished by its exploitation-perfect name. That said, it is a time capsule of the era in which it was made and, if you’re a cinematic history nerd like me, you’ll be able to enjoy it on that level. Sex Madness is in the public domain and it can be watched below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edfhuf9Em04

Embracing the Melodrama Part II #9: A Star is Born (dir by William Wellman)

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Hello everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine.”

— Mrs. Norman Maine (Janet Gaynor) in A Star Is Born (1937)

When I first saw the red neon of the opening credits of the 1937 best picture nominee, A Star Is Born, I thought to myself, “This is a real movie movie.” And I was so impressed by that thought that I even jotted it down in my review notes and now, looking down at my notes, I’m struggling to figure out how to explain just what exactly it was that I meant.

I think that what I was trying to say, in my own way, was that, when we think of a typical big budget Hollywood romance, A Star Is Born is the type of film of which we tend to think. It’s a big, glossy film that is shot in vibrant technicolor and which features a self-sacrificing woman (Esther Blodgett, played by Janet Gaynor) falling in love with a self-destructive but ultimately noble man (Norman Maine, played by Fredric March). It’s a film that has romance, humor, and tragedy. It’s a film that’s designed to make you laugh, cry, and ultimately fall in love. It’s pure melodrama, the type of film that would probably be made for Lifetime today. (And, in fact, it has been remade for Lifetime a number of times, just never under the title A Star Is Born.)

It’s a familiar story that, if I may indulge in a cliché, as old as the movies. Esther is a girl who lives on a farm in North Dakota and she wants to be a star, despite being told by her aunt that she need to start concentrating on finding a man and having children. Esther’s grandmother (Fay Robson) tells Eleanor to pursue her dreams and loans her some money to take with her to Hollywood.

With stars in her eyes, Esther goes out to California and deals with rejection after rejection. (She does, however, manage to rent out an apartment. The weekly rent is $6.00.) Esther does befriend an assistant director (Andy Devine) who gets Esther a job as a waitress at a party. As Esther serves the food, she imitates everyone from Katharine Hepburn to Mae West, all in an attempt to get noticed.

And, amazingly enough, it works! She meets film star, Norman Maine. With Norman’s help, she gets her first screen test and, after her name is changed to Vicki Lester, Esther is put under contract to a studio. She and Norman also fall in love and soon end up married. However, while Vicki Lester is rising to stardom, Norman is descending into irrelevance. He’s an alcoholic who has managed to alienate almost everyone in Hollywood. When Vicki wins her first award, Norman shows up at the ceremony drunk and destroys what little is left of his career.

Will Vicki be able to save Norman from his demons? And will she be able to do so without destroying her own career?

Well, you probably already know the answer. A Star Is Born is one of those stories that everyone seems to know, regardless of whether they’ve actually seen the film or not. (And even if they haven’t seen the 1937 version, chances are that they’ve seen one of the many remakes or ripoffs.) The original Star Is Born is an undeniably familiar and old-fashioned movie but it holds up as a celebration of both old Hollywood glamour and a heartfelt romance.

And it’s in the public domain!

Watch the original A Star is Born below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1tnE0dqln8

Embracing the Melodrama Part II #8: Gambling With Souls (dir by Elmer Clifton)

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

There’s been a murder!

During a raid on a club that doubles as both a brothel and gambling hall, the police discover the dead body of gambler Lucky Wilder. Standing over him with a gun is Mae Miller (Martha Chapin), the wife of respected Dr. John Miller (Robert Frazer). Dragged in front of the District Attorney (Edward Keane, sporting a mustache that was probably meant to make him look like real-life New York D.A. Thomas Dewey), Mae is given a chance to explain herself.

And that’s what Mae does, revealing how she was just an innocent housewife who was dragged into a life of gambling and sin by Wilder (Wheeler Oakman) and Molly (Vera Steadman). After being fooled into thinking that she’s a good gambler, Mae finds herself in debt to Wilder and is blackmailed into working in Wilder’s brothel. However, when Mae realizes that Wilder and Molly are trying the same con on a new girl, she’s left with little choice but to take the law into her own hands…

Released in 1936, Gambling With Souls is — much like Damaged Lives — an exploitation film disguised as an educational film. That’s why the district attorney is there to let us know that Mae’s story is not an unusual one and that all decisions have consequences. “Don’t gamble and resent your husband for not making enough money!” the film shouts at us, “BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN!”

And really, that’s the fun of Gambling With Souls. It’s just so histrionic and over-the-top and, ultimately, it’s so shameless that you can’t help but enjoy it. If they ever remake Gambling With Souls, I want to play Mae because not only does she get to shoot the bad guy but she also gets to wear a lot of pretty clothes and look good while doing it. Other than being a prostitute and a gambling addict, Mae could be a role model for us all.

Plus, this is one of those old films that’s full of stock footage! That means that whenever we watch one of the shows at Lucky’s club, we’re actually watching footage that was shot for several other movies. These scenes are so haphazardly and awkwardly inserted into the main film that I actually made a game out of trying to predict when the next one would suddenly pop up. On the one hand, all of that stock footage means that the look of both the club’s stage and the club’s performers change from scene to scene. However, on the other (and far more positive) hand, it also means that there’s a lot of dancing!

Gambling With Souls is a lot of fun and guess what? It’s in the public domain! Watch it below!

Embracing the Melodrama Part II #7: Of Human Bondage (dir by John Cromwell)

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“I don’t mind.”

— Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis) in Of Human Bondage (1934)

For the next three weeks, I will reviewing, in chronological order, 126 cinematic melodramas. It’s a little something that I like to call Embracing the Melodrama Part II. We started things off yesterday by taking a look at the silent classic Sunrise. Today, we continue with a quick look at the 1934 literary adaptation, Of Human Bondage.

Of Human Bondage opens with Philip Carey (Leslie Howard) living in Paris and struggling to make a living as a painter. The son of a prominent doctor, Philip is self-conscious about both his club foot and his abilities as an artist. When he invited an older artist to take a look at his work, Philip is informed, “There is no talent here. You will be nothing but mediocre.” Philip gives up his artistic ambitions and instead enters medical school.

Philip turns out to be just as miserable and moody as a medical student as he was when he was a painter. (Indeed, Philip may be one of the most miserable characters in cinematic history.) However, he does meet and becomes rather obsessed with a waitress named Mildred (Bette Davis). For her part, Mildred has little use for Philip or any of the other men who are constantly hitting on her. Whenever Philip asks her out, Mildred replies, “I don’t mind.” When Philip asks if he might kiss her goodnight, Mildred coolly replies, “No.”

Philip remains obsessed with Mildred, to the extent that he nearly flunks out of medical school because he can’t stop thinking about her. Mildred, however, eventually leaves Philip for the far more wealthy Emil Miller (Alan Hale). Eventually, Philip meets Norah (Kay Johnson), a romance novelist who falls as deeply in love with Philip as he did with Mildred. However, when the now pregnant Mildred reenters his life, Philip abandons Norah and goes back to her.

And so it goes for the next few years. Philip obsesses over Mildred. Mildred abandons Philip. Philip moves on. Mildred reenters Philip’s life. With each reappearance, Mildred appears to be growing weaker and sicker but she’s never so weak that she can’t yell at Philip and ridicule him for having a club foot…

It’s a little bit strange to admit to enjoying a film like Of Human Bondage because, when you get right down to it, it’s an unpleasant story about an unlikable man being manipulated by a heartless woman. But, interestingly enough, it’s Mildred’s unapologetic anger that make her such a compelling character. If Philip was in any way a sympathetic character, the film would be almost unbearably grim. But since Philip is such a weak-willed character and is so full of self-pity, you can’t help but be happy that Mildred is around to call him out on his bullshit. Everyone else in the film is so awful and boring, that you can’t help but appreciate the fact that Mildred never holds back.

Have you ever wondered why, every Oscar telecast, the Academy makes a point of letting us know that an independent accounting firm counted all of the ballots? Well, it’s because of this film. Or, more specifically, it’s because of Bette Davis’s ferocious performance. In 1935, when Davis somehow failed to be nominated for best actress, there was such outrage and so many people assumed that the nomination process had been rigged that the Academy actually allowed people to write in her name on their ballots. (Davis still lost to Claudette Colbert.) In order to avoid any future controversy, the Academy hired a private accounting firm to count and hold onto the ballots. (And if you’re curious about how that desire to avoid controversy is working out for the Academy, I was one words for you: Selma.) When, the next year, Bette Davis won the Oscar for best actress, it was widely assumed that it was largely to make up for being snubbed for Of Human Bondage.

If you want to see a good Leslie Howard film, go with Berkeley Square. But if you want to see a great Bette Davis film, watch Of Human Bondage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j6eBs-coEQ

AMV of the Day: Cosplay Bargain Bin (Various)

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Arleigh

This past weekend saw myself and fellow site contributor pantsukudasai56 over in Seattle attending Sakura-Con 2015. One of the activities we ended up participating in (meaning we sat down and watched) was in the AMV panels. While we never made it for the AMV Contest panel itself where people got to vote on the videos themselves we did manage to sit down and watch some of the videos. One of these days I will dedicate an entire con to just watching AMVs (well, at least go to the contest itself).

So, for the next week or so I shall be posting the videos we did catch and the one’s which ended up winning awards.

The first “AMV of the Day” Sakura-Con 2015 Edition made it as a finalist for the “Best Fun” Category. It’s “Cosplay Bargain Bin” by TarageAMV and is an amalgamation of over 30 or so anime clips edited to the tune of Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop.”

While it didn’t win in the end, this video from TarageAMV was actually quite funny and does a great job of spoofing the hardships and stress that cosplayers must go through to get ready for the next anime convention. As someone who broke his cosplay cherry this year with a simple enough costume (and I was still stressed that I couldn’t get all the pieces) I think I have a much better appreciation of the lengths and dedication cosplayers put into getting their cosplays ready.

Anime: Acchi Kocchi, Aquarion Evol, Attack on Titan, Baka and Test – Summon the Beasts, Black Butler, Black Rock Shooter, Bleach, Bodacious Space Pirates, Chobits, Clannad, Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion, Cowboy Bebop, Daily Lives of High School Boys, Darker Than Black, Darker Than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, Dragon Ball, Neon Genesis Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, Neon Genesis Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, Genshiken Second Season, Gj-Bu, Golden Boy, Great Teacher Onizuka, Hayate the Combat Butler, Heaven’s Lost Property Forte, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere II, Inu Yasha, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Kill la Kill, Log Horizon, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Mayo Chiki!, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, My Little Monster, Naruto Shippuden, Occult Academy, One Piece, Ouran High School Host Club, Plastic Nee-san, Robotics;Notes, Sailor Moon: Crystal, Spice and Wolf, Stein:Gate, Yuru Yuri

Song: “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (feat. Wanz)

Creator: TarageAMV